Analysis Of Fishtank

Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank (2009) is the story of a fifteen year old teenage girl called Mia in Essex who has a dream of becoming a dancer but is unable to because of the unstable environment that she lives in.

Themes & Situations:
Fish Tank contains many themes and situations which are very stereotypical of teenagers but most films will not wish to show because of the reception it may receive.


Sex: Is seen throughout the films and is a key theme. Connor (Michael Fassbender) has a sexual relationship outside of his marriage not only with Mia's mother but also Mia herself. The films theme of sex tackles aspects of sex such as paedophilia and adultery the former being an aspect of certain relationships most films would be uncomfortable tackling. Casual sex is also witnessed in the film when at a party of Mia's mother we see two characters having casual sex in the kitchen even when there are other guests at the party in their vacinity. These views of sex not just represent possible British relationships as negative but also shows a distorted view on the relationships some people and families have and how there is no love.

Jealousy: Is an evident theme of the picture. The audience is aware of the jealousy Mia has towards her mother for the love and affection she is given by Connor and this jealousy is not just there towards her mother but to other female characters that Connor seems to show any sign of affection towards; his daughter Keira and her mother. The jealousy is shown when Mia witnesses her mother having sex with Connor and she watches them before finding it too much for herself and storming off to her room in anger. The jealousy towards Keira and her mother is shown when Mia kidnaps Keira with the intentions to make Connor and his wife feel the pain she went through while also upsetting their daughter in the process.


Abuse: There is a strong theme of varying types of abuse. These include sexual abuse from local thugs and Conor. The local thugs torment Mia and touch her inappropriately while the paedophilic relationship that Mia has with Conor can also be interpretated as a form of abuse. The way in which Mia treats her younger sister and how their mother treats them is also abusive, we (, the audience) see the characters verbally and physically abuse one another by swearing and fighting with each other. Mia's younger sister is seen drinking and smoking which is against the law and the person who supplied the child with the means of getting hold of these things has (possibly unknowlingly) committed child abuse.


Representation (stereotypes & archetypes):
From the start of the film you see the environment that the main character Mia lives in and it is very stereotypical of her character who appears to be a trouble startting youth. This stereotypical view is further amplified by having her get in a fight and calling another girl a "pikey". The word pikey is used derogatory and is used to reflect the world she lives in and also show how the characters see this sort f racism as acceptable.

Mia's family is shown to be of underclass by the way in which the family interacts and the environment that they live. Mia's mother is shown to wear clothing like a vest and knickers while sitting in a house that's a mess shouting at her daughters. This gives a stereotypical view of how people who're underclass are and the places they live in. The mother dosn't seem to care about her kids and allows them to freely turant off school, this representation of the mother shows her as a woman who dosn't care about her children and is a character that the audience can possibly blame on the way her children are however in real life there are children like this with parents who are nothing like Mia's mother and the children are still badly behaved, the film does nothing to try and represent her mother like this.

Mise-en-scene: In the mise-en-scene of the film we see costumes that're very familiar to British people and characters wear costumes that are that of typical working and underclass people such as stone washed jeans, plain t-shirts, tracksuit bottoms and hoodies. The dyed hair and extensive make up and eye shadow are very stereotypical appearances of people who live in Essex but it helps the film give more verisimilitude.

The locations we see such as the place that Mia dances at is rundown and the park she is at in the beginning of the film is an existing location that gives the film a naturalistic feel to it. Most of the locations are actually existing places like the internet cafe, the street that Connors family lives on and the estate that Mia lives on. These locations and the color palette the cinematographer uses makes the film naturalistic and adds to the verisimilitudel.

Music & Sound effects:
Lack of a soundtrack and relies more on adjacent sound and foley sound. There is lots of existing music throughout such as "California Dreamin'", as covered by Bobby Womack (1968),  "Me & U" by Cassie,"Life's a Bitch" by Nas, "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr, "Cool Down the Pace" by Gregory Isaacs, "Your house" by Steel pulse, "Juice" by Epic B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by Wiley, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by Robin S, "Get Up Offa That Thing" by James Brown, and "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX & UK Apache.

Camera work & Editing:
Extensive use of handheld camera work when there are scenes that are intimate (Love scene between Conor and Mia). Handheld camera work is also used when Mia is in danger for example when she's runnign from the thugs who own the horse. Ontop of handheld camerawork there are lots of jump cuts and quick cuts to show that Mia is disorientated. When Mia is running from Connor after returning Keira the camera is at a long shot with a tracking shot that is also a pan before becoming a tracking shot. There are alos lots of long takes and establishing shots.An example of a long take is when Mia is walkign behind the man who owns the horse and the camera tracks them as they walk down a street. An example of an establishing shot s when the camera is at an over the shoulder shot of Mia looking out onto the town she lives on, the shot contains other estates and pylons which let the audience know that the film is set in the uk by the terrain and certain things in the shit like th eestates and pylons.

Dialogue:
Violent swear words that commonly stated with British people. "Cunt" and "Wanker". The dialect used is rather typical of people of where they live and their status. The dialect is very common and their pronounciation tends to be poor, with msot characters dropping their T's and sayings things like "init" instead of isn't it. The things the characters say is also often things you wouldn't associate with people who're middle class saying like " nearly had you aborted" and "pikey".

The character of Connor has an eccent that is not British and in turbn makes him seem exciting and new to the characters. Conor also speaks with much better pronounciation then the other characters which builds to his character because he dosn't live in an area as poor as the area that Mia lives in.

Examples of the "common" and rude way the character speak to each other:

Mia: I'm leaving then.
Joanne: [dances] This is one of your CDs.
Mia: Yeah. It's nice.
Joanne: Yeah, it's great.
Mia: You can keep it.
Joanne: Well, go on then. Fuck off

Tyler: Why do you need so much stuff?
Mia: [packing] Just in case.
Tyler: What about the referral unit?
Mia: You can have my place.
Tyler: I don't want it. They're full of spastics and idiots, those places.

Mia: Cor! Clever Dick!
Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed off. Ring me back, you bitch.